Mav1970's Insane 69.5 Street Project

Nice Bob!Spot welds are a lot harder to drill than big headed aluminum rivets huh!...(circle track joke) Maybe put it back on with Dutz fasteners so you can remove to clean the leaves out!..Jack

 

There is a lot of my left over circle track parts going into this Maverick. Rotted Ford cowls are not one of them

Don't forget those 3/16 flat washers that backed up those big head aluminum rivots - couldn't live without them either, could we Jack?

 

nice work, bob!

 

Great work!!!!! I've done 2 so far and have 2 more cars to do.

 

Since your car was already stripped down as far as it is, windshield out, etc ... it was the perfect time to do this.

 

That's the way I looked at it too. I don't think that I could have put a nice paint job on the car and just leave the cowls like they are.

Just added another thing to the list of items to complete

 

I'm finding myself more and more happy that I removed the exterior cowl panel to "take a look" at the cowl vents. The driver's side ring was completely rusted through in 3 places so I removed it. I always knew about a few very small pinhole rust holes in the area behind the ring but once I was able to get in there with a stiff wire wheel in my drill, it quickly looked like somone hit it with a shotgun. Cut the rust out, make up some plating and weld in the new ring and that side will be back to 100%.

 

You are giving it some much needed attention.....

 

Cowl Repair Progress Today

Well, I gave up a chance to go to a big Good Guys national event at Pocono Raceway to get to work on my cowl repairs instead. Before I went on vacation, I had cut the welds off of the cowl cover with a Harbor Freight spot weld cutter, removed both rusted through vent rings and wire brushed the entire internal cowl. A first coat of Black Rust Bullet came next. After the Rust Bullet dried, I cut out all of the rot areas from the back side of the cowl on both sides. Today, I made new steel patch plates and welded them all in. After that I welded in 2 new Mustang vent rings and sealed everything in with Eastwood brushable/paintable seam sealer. Tomorrow I'll put the second coat of Rust Bullet on and everything will be a nice shiney black. I've got more work to do to the cowl cover but that will be next so I can get it all sealed up and move on once again.

This repair is so invasive, at first I had the tendency to keep talking myself out of it, but it really isn't that hard to do and I am really really glad I did it this way. I know what I have now when the cover goes back on again

I want to thank everyone whoever did this repair and posted text and pictures - believe me, everything helped

 

Looks like it was a lot of work but everything I've seen so far looks like you're doing it top-notch. Makes you feel good doesn't it? Good work!

 

Your gettin somwhere now, just remember front torque boxes are next.....

 

Hey - - now there's the guy that caused me to do all of this work by posting all of those great pictures of his

Actually I really think it's great that you've shown your build in such detail in photos. Your little welding technique also worked for me once I got the hang of it. Overlap the last tack, quick blast, get the hell away from it before you burn through, then do it again. Worked great.

Only problem was that I only had .030 wire and I think something thinner would have worked better.

My passenger torque box is in great shape but my driver's side needs work. That's the side that took the most water damage from the cowls. I'm going to extend the driver's side torque box back a bit in order to pick up the front leg of my cage. Then I'll duplicate it on the pass side.

 

Thanks, it really does feel good

Heck, I couldn't even weld until a few months ago. I built a dozen or so stock cars over the years but only tacked everything together because I always had a certified welded on the team. Using him was a "no-brainer" but it didn't help me learn either.

 

Hey Mister, thats a heck of a place to put yer tail pipes but at least they look big enough to handle that stroker plus they will help keep yer windshield ice free on those nasty Pa. winter nights. Thats me again

 

That's the tail pipes from a Camaro that I had to hit because I came up on it so quick there was no time to swerve so now they're imbedded in my fire wall

Can you even remember those PA winter nights? Like Colorado isn't worse, right?

This thing is never going to see winter ever again